New Delhi, Apr 4 (PTI) Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge on Friday impressed upon the party's district unit chiefs to prepare for elections for five years and not just six months or a year.

He also urged them to make all efforts to prevent tampering with voters' lists.

Calling on Congress workers and leaders to raise issues of the people, Kharge said former party chief Rahul Gandhi had built a 'muhim (campaign)' through the Bharat Jodo Yatra before the last Lok Sabha elections and stressed that "we have to put build such a 'muhim' again".

Kharge, former party chief Gandhi, and All India Congress Committee (AICC) general secretary in-charge organisation KC Venugopal, among others, attended the District Pradesh Congress Committee (DCC) presidents' meet.

The meeting at Indira Gandhi Bhawan was attended by 302 DCC presidents from Assam, West Bengal, Bihar, Jharkhand, Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Jammu and Kashmir, and Ladakh. The party's state unit chiefs and AICC in-charges of these states and Union territories were also present.

Kharge told the DCC presidents to prepare strongly for the upcoming assembly polls within the next couple of years.

He asserted that the growing communalism and hate campaign was the "biggest challenge" and said party leaders had to fight it in the same way the Congress did in 1947-48.

In his opening remarks, Kharge also talked about the Budget Session of Parliament that ended on Friday and accused the government of following an agenda of communal polarisation while ignoring the issues that mattered to the people.

"The government does not run Parliament till 4 o'clock in the night to debate on inflation, unemployment, economic failure or US tariffs. It conducts a debate on Manipur in the dark of night so that legislative work can be done secretly. Should the discussion on Manipur have been for only one hour?" Kharge said.

With elections to be held in Bihar in September-October, leaders there have to start preparing with full vigour, he said.

"There are elections in Assam, West Bengal next year. And in the year after that, there are elections in Uttar Pradesh and Uttarakhand. We have to enter these elections with full preparation and strength," Kharge asserted.

"We have to continuously fight against the anti-people and anti-Constitution thinking of the BJP-RSS. We are fighting, inside and outside Parliament against them. We have to raise the issues of the people," he said and added, "Rahul (Gandhi) ji had built a 'muhim' through the Bharat Jodo Yatra before the last Lok Sabha elections. We have to build such a campaign again. His Save Constitution campaign had stopped the BJP from getting a majority." Noting that this year marked the centenary of Mahatma Gandhi becoming Congress president, Kharge said the party decided at its Belgaum convention to celebrate 2024-25 as "organisation empowerment" year.

He recalled Mahatma Gandhi's words in 1931 at the roundtable conference in London when he had said that the Congress would sacrifice all other interests for the millions of hungry and poor people.

"Gandhiji had actually said this for the villages, countryside, weak sections, voiceless people, whose voice the Congress became. The present government is against the rights of the poor, Dalits, tribals, backward people. Therefore, we need to fight more strongly," Kharge said.

"I believe that we need to prepare for elections for a full five years. If someone thinks that they will prepare six months or one year before the elections, it is not right," he said.

The most important link to take the Congress' ideas and programmes to the bottom is the district president, he asserted.

"Today, the growing communalism and hate campaign is the biggest challenge. We have to fight this in the same way the Congress fought in 1947-48. In the last days of Gandhiji's life, a resolution was passed against communal organisations in the AICC meeting held from 15 to 17 November 1947," Kharge recalled.

"Today, the situation is the same. Our biggest battle is with communal forces which are engaged in spreading poison within society. In the greed for power, a gulf is being dug even between people of the same religion, and brothers are being pitted against each other. We have the path shown by the Father of the Nation, Mahatma Gandhi, and our great leaders," Kharge said.

Apart from this, Kharge said an eye must be kept on the election process and all efforts made to prevent tampering with voters' lists.

"You work with honesty and diligence with your team. We will be with you. We are confident that all of you will carry our message forward. You will take it to the masses. You will take the work of organisation-building forward. You will work to make the Congress stronger," Kharge said.

Briefing reporters after the meeting, Venugopal said a very fruitful and meaningful meeting with the DCC presidents was held. It was the third and final such meeting before the AICC session in Ahmedabad.

The first meeting on March 26 was attended by 255 DCC presidents from Kerala, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, Pondicherry, Lakshadweep, Telangana, Andhra Pradesh, Andaman and Nicobar Islands, Goa, Manipur, Nagaland, Mizoram, Tripura, Meghalaya, and Arunachal Pradesh.

The second meeting on April 3 was attended by 305 DCC presidents from Maharashtra, Mumbai, Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Rajasthan, Delhi, Punjab, and Chandigarh.

In total, 862 DCC presidents have attended these meetings, Venugopal said.

The major areas of discussion were centred around booth management and voter verification, party ideological training, media and social media campaigns, and asset and property management for party activities, he said.

This type of meeting had not occurred in 20 years, marking a significant moment in the party's history, Venugopal added.

"It was a direct interaction between the DCC presidents and the high command. We are now establishing a system for regular communication with DCC presidents," Venugopal said.

Around 60 DCC presidents shared their views on strengthening the organisation and implementing changes, he said.

"These issues were discussed in depth. I believe this meeting, held just before the AICC session in Gujarat, will provide valuable insights into our organisation's grassroots level. As we have said, our goal for 2025 is to establish a robust organisation structure," Venugopal said.

He also informed that the AICC session's theme of "Nyaypath: Sankalp, Samarpan, and Sangharsh" would be the tagline for the session.

"The event is scheduled to take place on April 8-9 at the Sabarmati riverbank in Ahmedabad. On April 8, the Extended Congress Working Committee will meet at the Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel Memorial. This year marks the 100th anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi's presidency and the 150th birth anniversary of Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel, both iconic figures born in Gujarat," he said.

The Extended Working Committee meeting will be attended by Congress Working Committee members, permanent and special invitees, Pradesh Congress Committee presidents, Congress Legislature Party leaders, council leaders, Central Election Committee members, Congress Parliamentary Party officebearers, former chief ministers and deputy chief ministers, Venugopal said.

Approximately 169 people will attend on the first day.

On April 9, the AICC session will take place with around 1,725 elected AICC and co-opted members attending, along with MPs, ministers and other senior leaders, he said.

Seeking to strengthen the party at the grassroots, the top Congress leadership has stressed that the DCCs would soon be given a lot of powers with which their responsibility, as well as accountability, would also increase.

The party had also said the district units would be given more voice in selecting candidates for polls. PTI ASK ASK SZM SZM